The present invention is directed to a device for handling magnetic tape cassettes.
As the electronic industry has developed greater and greater markets in consumer devices, standardization of the packaging for magnetic tape has resulted. Of the standardized tape holders, 8 track cartridges, audio cassettes and 3/4" and 1" video cassettes have become most accepted. With the great magnitude of such devices, mechanisms for rapidly loading either pre-recorded or unrecorded magnetic tape into these holders has become economically required. One such device for splicing and loading electromagnetic tape onto a cassette is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,825. This patent is incorporated herein by reference to illustrate the sequence of operation of such a splicing and loading mechanism. The threading of the mechanism disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,825 was accomplished by hand. To further expedite the loading of such cassettes, another device was developed for the automatic threading of cassettes once placed on the spindles of the cassette loading devices. This threading mechanism is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,052. The disclosure of this patent is also incorporated herein by reference to particularly illustrate a threading mechanism. Thus, devices have been developed heretofore which, when used in combination, require an operator to simply place an empty magnetic tape cassette onto the spindles of the device, initiate operation of the mechanism and package the resulting loaded cassettes ejected from the mechanism.
It has been long understood in the industry that great advantage would be realized in terms of time and expense if such empty magnetic tape holders could be loaded directly from the box into a mechanism which automatically placed each holder on a threading and loading mechanism from a stack of holders and later restacked the loaded holders for shipment or further inspection. However, a difficulty has been that with at least certain of the cassettes, the tape access ports are wider than the overall package. Consequently, the unloaded holders come stacked with the tape access ports facing in opposite directions in an alternating pattern. Thus, the holders can be stacked. This increases the technical difficulties associated with automatic feeding of packages for loading. This difficulty is further complicated by the fact that it is often desirable to place the loaded cassettes either back in the same alternating pattern or in alternating series of six for stacking prior to tape inspection.